As I keep refining my life, I often find myself trying to create new ways of doing things. Yet lately I am finding that so many of the things my parents taught me can help me create my lifestyle remix. Here's 10 of my favorites! 1. Make your bed before leaving the house 2. Pick out your clothes the night before 3. Change your sheets when you wake up on Saturday 4. Turn off the extra lights in the house 5. Listen to good music 6. Pack your lunch 7. Don't ever say "I can't" 8. Always save some of your paycheck 9. Don't be lazy, take care of business 10. Take care of what you have, before you ask for something else
Hmmm...so simple, yet so powerful. So thankful for my parents...their love and wisdom is the essence of my lifestyle remix!
Reconnect with the life lessons you were taught back in the day...I'd love to hear about them!
Today was different...its difficult to describe. I woke up from my cozy bed without an alarm clock. I put on my clothes and smiled at my reflection in the mirror. I was on time....NO, I WAS EARLY for a brunch appointment. I enjoyed and savored my meal. I was inspired by the business brainstorming conversation, and surprised by my passion as I discussed my vision. I took time to stroll the National Harbor. I blushed & said thank you to compliments of my presence. I explored shops and chatted with owners. I bumped into a friend and we made plans to get together. My ATM card that I lost was returned to me. I got a call confirming the reinstatement of my drycleaning delivery service. It was a day filled with simple pleasures.
You've tracked your spending for a week. Were you surprised by where your money was going? Random spending isn't the only place where we lose money. This week, we'll look at other places you may be bleeding money including account mistakes, overdraft fees, finance charges and impulse buying.
You kept all your receipts or wrote down what you spent, on what and when. You created a spreadsheet to help you add it up.
How do you feel?
You may have felt like it was a pointless exercise (no it wasn't, as I'll explain) or that you didn't learn anything new about your spending patterns or you were blown away by where your money goes in just a week.
Why are you doing this? Chances are, you've never done it before. You may be struggling with debt, or struggling to save for the things that you want or simply struggling to pay for anything at all. Maybe you aren't struggling with any of those things, but you're often hit with expensive surprises at the end of the month -- Not quite enough left in checking to cover the rent next week? Suddenly missing $100 that you don't remember spending, but it sure isn't in your account? Getting an e-mail about your account being overdrawn?
You track your spending to look for the obvious holes. Once you see the obvious holes, you can get better at spotting the less obvious ones, which we'll talk about in this post. The longer you track your spending, the more accurate a picture you have of your overall finances. The more accurate your picture, the better planning you can do for your finances. The better your financial plan, the LESS you'll have to do the tedious work of tracking every penny. If your plan is tight, there won't be any surprises! That's why this is not a pointless exercise.
But you also must walk before you can run.
Here are five places to look to save money that you may not normally look:
1. Bank and credit card statements. Banks are not infallible. Banks make mistakes with YOUR money. Check your statements and make sure you weren't charged any erroneous fees or that someone else hasn't gotten a hold of your information and is shopping on your dime. If you have a questions or suspicions, CALL YOUR BANK. You might be the one mistaken, but it's better to get it straight than to assume everything is fine. The same goes for any other bills including your cell phone, utilities, etc.
2. Monthly fees vs. annual costs. Why do you think car dealers ask you "How much are you looking to pay a month?" when you are looking to buy or lease?
The CORRECT question is "How much do you want to pay for this car and how long do you want to pay on it?"
Why do they ask the first question and not the second one?
Because by getting you to think only about the monthly fee for that car, they can get you to pay way more for it than it may be worth.
It's the same with any other monthly fee -- a low fee may seem like a bargain, but multiply by 12 and see how much money you may be losing on something in a year.
Look at your bills and bank statements and see what things you're charged for each month (besides your rent or mortgage). Multiply that monthly charge by 12 -- that's what it costs you each year. Do you really want to spend that much on whatever it is each year? Could you possibly spend less on that same service?
3. Your cell phone. Of course you need it, but could you potentially spend less on it each month? Are you using all those minutes? If not, can you roll them over? If not, can you get fewer minutes for a lower price? Are you paying per text message and frequently go over the limit?
Many cellular providers' websites allow you to "analyze" your bill. You punch in your information and then it lets you know if you're actually using everything you're paying for. If you aren't, you may want to cut back on your services or options and save some cash.
4. Your friends and family. Are you the one always covering somebody, helping a sistah out, bailing out a brother, or footing someone else's bills? Maybe it's just $20 here and there, but how often do here and there call you asking for money?
5. Your vices. Cigarettes. Alcohol. Ice cream, and lots of it. These are all things that may be hurting more than your wallet! Have you lost $100 and gained 10 pounds this month and don't quite know how? Look here. Your indulgence in these things may also be costing you indirectly -- does your company benefits plan charge additional fees if you're a smoker, drinker, or significantly overweight?
Right now, I'm not asking you to start or stop doing anything. I'm just asking you to take notice of these things that you probably never spend time thinking about.
Once you recognize your patterns, you can do something about them -- channeling that same brain power to help you instead of hurt you.
Spend this week checking on where you money goes and seeing if there are places where you can stop the bleeding. Once you identify those areas, close them up!
DH
Debt Hater is a personal finance blogger who paid off nearly $16,000 in credit card debt (not including a car loan!) in four years, just like she planned. You can visit her blog at www.debthatersblog.com.
Those of you who really know me, know that I love to do things in an alternative or creative way. Earlier this summer I was inspired by a piece in Essence magazine where the relationships editor participated in a summer dating challenge....did y'all read that? Well, anyway....she created a circle of trusted friends (including her MOM!) to put her on blind dates! Check out essenceonline.com
I thought it was an interesting approach to the dating game, and wondered if I could incorporate it into my NeoSoul Lifestyle. And, guess what?! I did!
So here's how I remixed it for me.....
I invited a circle of women to my home for brunch to interview me about my dating life and what I hope to experience from this experiment! I selected women that I KNOW have a true appreciation for love, marriage, and relationships.....most importantly THEY KEEP IT REAL! You can follow them on Twitter at:
@ChasingSoul
@PolishedImage
@OriginalNajeema
And if you're not already...follow me @NeoSoulAlterEgo !
These ladies will also help me to spruce up my online dating profiles too...I think they are in for a shock to really see what the single life is all about these days!
After our brainstorming session, these ladies...which I will now refer to as "The Counsel" will set me up on blind dates in September. And of course...I'll be blogging and tweeting along the way!
Oh....and keep an eye on my friend Rosetta @happyblackwoman or www.happyblackwoman.com because she is doing an Extreme Online Dating Experiment!
So send me positive vibes y'all! The NeoSoul Lifestyle remix is in full effect!
Tracking your spending is the first step to understanding where your money goes. You can't make substantial changes to your financial life until you understand what your financial life looks like right now.
What's stopping you from getting out of debt? From saving for a home, college education, retirement or a fantastic vacation?
Many people are waiting for a windfall:
"As soon as I hit the Lotto, I am going to take care of everything!"
"When I get my bonus, I am going to take care of everything!"
"When I get a higher paying job, I am going to save like I should!"
"When my great aunt kicks the bucket, she'll leave me everything and then I can get it together!"
Ok, maybe you're not waiting for a relative to die, but you're probably waiting for more money. If you had more money, then you could pay down debt or save or do both.
You have more money than you think.
You've heard and read about the "latte factor," how you're 4x-a-day Starbucks habit is robbing you of hundreds of dollars a year.Well, how about your "vending machine factor," or your "overpriced auto insurance factor," or your "club hopping factor?" What small things are you dropping money on over and over that you never notice until it's time to pay a bill?
One of the first steps to getting a true picture of your fiscal health is determining just what you spend your hard-earned money on.
To do this right, you have to do it the hard way -- keep all your receipts and write every expenditure down.
"WHY?!" You may be shrieking. "I don't have the time or patience to keep track of all those little pieces of paper. What's the benefit?" The benefit is that you may discover hundreds of dollars you are losing each month and don't even realize it.
For One Week, keep the receipts for every purchase you make. If you don't get a receipt, immediately write down what you bought, the date and how much it cost (I use an app on my smart phone called Cashbox). If you use debit or credit cards, write it down anyway. Use the statements to double-check your notes.
At the end of the week, open a spreadsheet (yes, that little green X thing on your computer -- it's called Excel). In Column A, type in the dates you made your purchases. In Column B, type where you went shopping. Column C, type in what you bought (groceries, cosmetics, bank fee is sufficient; don't catalog every item). Finally, in Column D, type in how much it cost.
When you're done, add up Column D. Take the sum of Column D and multiple it by 4.
That new number shows you what you spend each month, not including your bills or your debt. Just on stuff.
Now, subtract this number from your monthly take-home pay. If this number is negative, you're going into debt every month.
You may be thinking, "I just had an off week." Maybe you did. Now that you know you have the discipline to do this for one week, do it again for two. Then do it for a month. Do it for a quarter (that's three months).
Look for patterns. Is latte listed 80 times? Did you go to the grocery store repeatedly? Did you stick a lot of change into a vending machine?
This will give you a more accurate picture of what you do monthly. It will help you plan for your money.
In the coming posts I will explain how to take that information to begin transforming your financial situation. One step at a time to financial freedom!
Thank you all for making the the first NeoSoul Lifestyle Experiment a success! I appreciated your insights and learned alot.....and there's one more business item to take care of!
The winner of the $25 SpaFinder gift certificate is.....KIM!
Today is the last day of the experiment! I can't believe it! As I tried to incorporate each of the components at times it seemed that the days were moving so slowly! Yet each day I grew more motivated, and now I can't believe the experiment has come to a close!
